Charges filed in alleged meth bust

Detectives investigate an alleged methamphetamine lab, which was discovered in a home in Huntington Park.

Detectives investigate an alleged methamphetamine lab, which was discovered in a home in Huntington Park. (Courtesy of the Glendale Police Department)

Veronica Rocha

Charges have been filed against two women and a man who were arrested last week after Glendale police allegedly discovered more than $500,000 in methamphetamine and cocaine in a drug lab in Huntington Park.

Laura Sanchez, 30, Sergio Sanchez Velazquez, 28, and Alondra Velazquez, 18, all of Huntington Park, were taken into custody at about 6:35 a.m. on Oct. 22, when Glendale detectives found a methamphetamine lab in the back of a home in the 7700 block of State Street in Huntington Park, according to police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot.

During the search of the home, detectives found 17 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine as well as a large amount of drug-packaging materials, digital scales and ledgers, she added.

According to police, three young children were inside the home during the bust. The Los Angeles County Children and Family Services responded to the home and took the children away.

Sanchez Velazquez faces multiple charges for child abuse, possessing a controlled substance for sale, and for selling, transporting and manufacturing methamphetamine, according to Shiara Dávila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney.

Sanchez and Velazquez were charged with one count each of possessing methamphetamine for sale and selling and transporting it, she added.

Glendale detectives discovered the lab as part of an ongoing investigation into a large-scale drug manufacturing and distribution case in the Los Angeles and Glendale region.

Few details were released about last week’s incident because of an ongoing investigation, but it started after detectives reportedly discovered methamphetamine inside a vehicle during a traffic stop.

An investigation into the meth find led detectives to the Huntington Park home, where they believed drugs were being manufactured, Lightfoot said. Detectives obtained a warrant to search the home, where they found the meth lab.

Another man and woman were also arrested during the bust, but prosecutors declined to file charges against them due to insufficient evidence, Dávila-Morales said.

The trio is scheduled to appear Nov. 5 in a Los Angeles County Superior courtroom for a preliminary hearing.